Domestic institutions absorbed more than all of the foreign selling on October 1, yet the Nifty closed at 22,421.95 and extended its weekly losing run to eight weeks, the longest in 25 years.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold a net ₹9,484 crore of Indian shares on Thursday, October 1, and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought more than all of it, at ₹10,042 crore. The Nifty 50 still fell 0.88%, according to NSE provisional data tracked by NiftyTrader.
The fall capped an eighth straight weekly loss for the Nifty and Sensex, the longest such streak in 25 years, The Week reported. It was also the fourth consecutive daily decline in a holiday-shortened week. The central question for the sessions ahead is whether domestic buying can keep absorbing foreign supply while crude and US yields stay elevated.
DIIs Absorbed More Than FIIs Sold, and the Nifty Still Fell
FII net selling of ₹9,484 crore and DII net buying of ₹10,042 crore left combined institutional flows about ₹558 crore positive, NiftyTrader’s FII-DII tracker shows. Domestic institutions therefore absorbed roughly 106% of the day’s foreign selling.
The index fell regardless. The Nifty dropped 198.50 points from its previous close of 22,620.45, and the Sensex lost 570.59 points, or 0.79%, to 71,909.70. The Nifty fell as low as 22,217 during the session before paring losses, TradingView News reported. NSE index data show a split market: Nifty IT rose 2.17%, while Nifty Auto fell 3.46%, and the Nifty Midcap 100 and Smallcap 100 fell 1.01% and 0.97%, respectively.
Track Live: GIFT NIFTY, NIFTY 50, SENSEX, FII DII DATA
Eight Straight Weekly Losses, the Longest Run in 25 Years
HDFC Sky’s market report said the Nifty lost 3.1% this week and is down 8.7% over the eight-week run, while the Sensex is down 8.4%. The Free Press Journal noted this is the longest weekly losing streak since 2001, when the Nifty fell for nine straight weeks. The all-time record is 10 weeks, set in 1993. The Nifty now sits about 15% below its January record high of 26,373.
The Week reported Brent crude near $100 a barrel and the US 10-year Treasury yield close to 5.34% on Thursday. SBI Securities’ Sunny Agrawal told TradingView News that elevated US yields and crude above $100 remain the key risk to sentiment.
Six Sessions of FII Selling Total ₹43,687 Crore
October 1 was the sixth consecutive session of net FII selling, with cumulative outflows of ₹43,687 crore across the streak, NiftyTrader’s data show. On September 30, FIIs sold ₹10,148 crore, the biggest single-day outflow in the past 90 sessions.
September closed with FIIs net selling ₹44,013 crore and DIIs net buying ₹76,030 crore, while the Nifty fell about 6% for the month, NiftyTrader’s monthly data show.
Track daily: FII and DII flows, DII absorption and F&O positioning on NiftyTrader’s FII-DII Tracker: niftytrader.in/fii-dii-data
A ₹1.16 Lakh Crore Cushion That Has Not Stopped the Slide
Over the past 30 sessions, FIIs net sold ₹64,669 crore, while DIIs bought ₹1,15,633 crore, an absorption rate of about 179%, according to NiftyTrader. FIIs were net sellers in 22 of those 30 sessions. The index still fell.
The monthly record shows flows alone have not set the Nifty’s direction in 2026. In March, DIIs bought ₹1,42,960 crore against FII selling of ₹1,22,540 crore, yet the Nifty fell 10.2%. In April, FIIs sold ₹70,135 crore and DIIs bought ₹51,064 crore, yet the Nifty rose 5.8%.
Added up, NiftyTrader’s monthly figures show FII net selling of about ₹4.1 lakh crore in 2026 against DII net buying of about ₹6.5 lakh crore. NiftyTrader’s monthly table uses NSE cash-market flow data. FII and FPI figures from other databases can differ because the datasets use different classifications and coverage.
What the F&O Data Shows, and What It Doesn’t
NiftyTrader’s tracker shows FIIs net short 3,10,174 index-futures contracts, with 29,605 long against 3,39,779 short. In stock futures, however, FIIs were net long 5,35,081 contracts.
In index options on October 1, FIIs added 2,03,970 call-buying contracts and 1,69,852 call-shorting contracts. The tracker classifies the cash selling and index-futures positioning as aligned. Its read of the day’s options activity, however, points to protective hedging and exposure reduction rather than panic. Futures positions can reflect hedges as well as directional views, so the data alone cannot settle intent.
What Past FII Selling Streaks Suggest
NiftyTrader examined 80 episodes over the past five years in which FIIs were net cash sellers for three or more sessions in a row. The analysis looks at the cash leg only and does not condition on futures positioning.
After those streaks, the Nifty’s average 10-session return was +0.7%, and the index was lower after 10 sessions in 39% of cases (31 of 80). The worst 10-session drop in the sample was 7.7% in February 2022. Past episodes are not a forecast, and today’s backdrop of crude near $100 and elevated US yields is a live variable.
What to Watch When Markets Reopen
NSE and BSE are closed on Friday, October 2, for Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti, with trading set to resume on Monday, October 5, per the exchanges’ holiday calendar. The next FII-DII reading will therefore come after Monday’s session. Three signals matter: whether FII selling stretches to a seventh session or the streak breaks, whether DII buying stays above FII selling, and whether Brent and US 10-year yields ease.
Bottom Line
October 1 captured the tension in Indian equities: foreign institutions sold ₹9,484 crore, domestic institutions bought ₹10,042 crore, and the Nifty still fell to extend its longest weekly losing run in 25 years. Over the past 30 sessions, domestic buying has exceeded foreign selling by a wide margin without turning the index. Monday’s FII-DII data will show whether that pattern continues.
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Disclaimer: NiftyTrader is a SEBI-registered platform. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Please consult a SEBI-registered advisor before making investment decisions.
